How Much Caffeine Is In Starbucks Cold Brew Coffee?

It’s always a smart idea to keep track of your caffeine intake, especially if you’re sensitive to caffeine or want to stay under a certain amount to help with sleep, anxiety, heart health, or other wellness goals. So, how much caffeine is in Starbucks cold brew compared to their hot coffee options? Getting the facts can help you make informed choices.

A 16oz cup of cold brew from Starbucks contains around 205mg of caffeine, according to Starbucks’ own recently published nutrition data. That 205mg amount will vary based on the volume, of course—a bigger cup size means more caffeine. But the concentration also fluctuates from batch to batch based on factors like the coffee beans used and exact brewing parameters.

Caffeine Concentrations in Starbucks Cold Brew by Size

As mentioned, a standard 16oz cup of Starbucks cold brew contains 205mg of caffeine on average. But what about other available sizes? Here’s a helpful breakdown:

Tall (12oz): 153mg
Grande (16oz): 205mg
Venti (24oz): 307mg
Trenta (30oz): 384mg

So as you’d expect, the total caffeine content scales up as the cup size increases. Good info to keep in mind if carefully tracking your overall caffeine consumption throughout the day!

Does Starbucks Cold Brew Contain More Caffeine Than a Typical Hot Coffee?

Interestingly, cold brew coffee from Starbucks actually contains less caffeine than most of their standard hot coffee offerings. This might seem counterintuitive because cold brew is often touted as—and sometimes tastes like—a super concentrated form of coffee, but there’s an important reason why.

Starbucks baristas combine coffee grounds and pure cold water, then let the mixture steep for 20 hours or longer before filtering out the grounds, making this the brewing method that takes the longest time. This extended cold brewing process produces that concentrated coffee extract full of flavor.

However, most people don’t drink this concentrate straight, and large chains like Starbucks also don’t serve their cold brew concentrate straight to customers—it’s just too potent!

Instead, they dilute the concentrate with additional water to make the final beverage. And this dilution process brings the caffeine content down considerably compared to the initial concentrate.

So that 205mg in a 16oz cold brew from Starbucks is lower than the typical 16oz hot coffee beverage from Starbucks, which contains 250-400mg of caffeine. The actual amount depends on factors like the roast level and the specific roast. All of the caffeine levels below are directly from Starbucks’ website.

Featured Blonde roast (16oz): 360mg caffeine
Featured medium roast - Pike Place (16oz): 310mg
Featured dark roast (16oz): 260mg

As you can see, all those hot coffee options have significantly more caffeine than the 205mg in a 16oz Starbucks cold brew.

You might also notice that darker roasts contain lower caffeine levels. That’s because the longer roast times destroy more of the naturally occurring caffeine in the initial beans with hot temperatures in the roaster. Since cold brew often starts with darker roasts, that’s another factor that brings its caffeine content down.

On the other hand, the nitro cold brew from Starbucks has around 260mg of caffeine, which, interestingly, is higher than the standard cold brew and on par with the featured dark roast hot coffee.

The takeaway: while cold brew tastes bold and intense, it doesn’t actually contain more caffeine than a comparable hot coffee beverage at Starbucks. The extended brewing followed by dilution in cold brew production brings down the total caffeine content to under where most hot coffee from Starbucks sits.

Does Starbucks Cold Brew Have More Caffeine Than Dunkin Cold Brew?

Dunkin’s cold brew coffee contains more caffeine than Starbucks’ version. A 16oz Dunkin cold brew has around 260mg of caffeine, while a 16oz Starbucks cold brew has 205mg.

This 55mg difference could come down to variations in how diluted the final drinks are after the initial cold brew concentrate is produced. Less dilution after brewing means more caffeine makes it into the final cup. Starbucks may dilute their concentrates more than Dunkin, resulting in the lower caffeine level.

Starbucks may also use a darker roast, which will have lower caffeine concentrations than lighter ones. Starbucks does tend to favor super-dark roasts.

Starbucks Cold Brew: A Slightly Smarter Choice for Caffeine-Conscious Coffee Enthusiasts

To summarize, here are the approximate caffeine concentrations found in various Starbucks coffee beverages:

Cold brew (16oz): 205mg
Featured blonde roast (16oz): 360mg
Featured medium roast - Pike Place (16oz): 310mg
Featured dark roast (16oz): 260mg

While cold brew tastes bold and intense, it actually contains less caffeine than most of Starbucks’ hot coffee options. This makes Starbucks cold brew a slightly smarter choice if you love cold coffee but want to moderate your caffeine intake.

It also contains measurably less caffeine than Dunkin’s cold brew (205mg vs. 260mg per 16oz). So if cold brew is your go-to coffee drink, Starbucks is the way to go for getting great flavor with a touch less caffeine per cup. You can enjoy all the delicious cold brew taste with fewer of the jittery effects from excessive caffeine ingestion.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which Starbucks coffee has the most caffeine?

The Starbucks coffee with the highest caffeine content is usually going to be the featured blonde roast, as lighter roasts have more caffeine. A grande (16 oz) Blonde Roast has around 360 mg of caffeine, comparted to 310 in some medium roasts and 260 in some dark roasts. Light roast coffee has the highest caffeine because the beans are roasted for a shorter time, preserving more of the bean’s natural caffeine. Dark roasts like the Starbucks Pike Place or Dark Roast have less caffeine because some gets destroyed in the longer roasting process.

Which Starbucks coffee has the least caffeine?

The Starbucks coffee with the least caffeine is the decaf coffee. A grande (16 oz) decaf coffee from Starbucks has about 25mg of caffeine, on average. Excluding decaf, Starbucks cold brew has the least amount of caffeine. The brewing process and dilution of the concentrate lead to lower caffeine levels compared to hot brewed coffee. Additionally, cold brew is often made with darker roasts which have less caffeine to start with due to longer roasting times destroying the bean’s caffeine.

Is the caffeine content the same in hot and iced coffee?

The caffeine content is generally the same in Starbucks hot coffee versus iced coffee of the same roast and size. For example, a 16 oz hot Pike Place Roast has around 310 mg caffeine, while a 16 oz iced Pike Place Roast also has 310 mg caffeine. Heat in your cup does not affect caffeine levels, so the hot and iced versions start off with the same concentrations.